Saturday, December 27, 2008

When simply thinking about doing something can create enough panic and anxiety in the human nervous system to stymie the best laid plans, what is it that happens when we find out that it's not as bad as we thought?

When all of the plans for Christmas have been put into action, and all of the presents have been packaged and sent on their way, and the gatherings have dispersed from the homes of people who we may know and love, or know and dislike, or not know and have no intention of allowing to like, or now knowing better and--despite our previously vehemently held beliefs--have actually enjoyed the company of. When does the average person understand that we can make the most of almost any situation?

The question may be an unfair one. Because it is so unbelievably hard to fathom the seemingly endless combinations of events that may unfold on any given occasion.

We usually just expect the worst.

And the bullhorn media outlets don't help any.

And by that I'm including word of mouth and time honored adages.

Murphy's Law for instance.

I never cared for it.

"Anything that can go wrong, will."

How sad, stupid, and unnecessary.

It must have been instigated by someone who wasn't bright enough to put a stop to their own bad luck.

It almost makes me mad, but I'm not going to let that particular collection of lines, dots and spaces get me upset. My day is going too well--much to the contrary of said adage.

I've had quite a year trying to distill the essence of happiness from a concoction of many incongruous ingredients--some great, some disastrous, some surprising and some expected. I've had my moments of weakness. I've had my grand accomplishments. I've had days where a knock on the door could send me running for the covers. And I've had my periods where I felt as if I were wrapped in a thick swaddling of loving warmth handed down from the heavens for my enjoyment complete with an open ended return stipulation and a money back guarantee.

I've seen it all.

So what makes easy?

I'll tell you what makes easy.

Time.

Time makes easy.

If you think about it, time is the true path to any and all of life's events.

You may have the best intentions and the greatest of ideas. You may have the capital to do it with and the people in place to bring it to life. You may have the perfect place to plan and prepare and produce the next best thing ever. You may have all of the ingredients you need to make the world a better place ...

... but you need time, most of all, to do anything.

You need time to plant a seed. You need time to run the water to fill the can to moisten the soil. You need time to watch it flower and grow. You need time to bring the earth around the sun again. You need time to let the seasons change. You need time to run tests and take notes. You need time to find out what you could do to make it better. You need time to watch it fail so you can trace where the cracks began. You need time to get an opinion or two. You need time to spark interest. You need time to promote. You need time to make a sale. You need time to process a payment. You need time to let the interest compound. You need time to develop brand loyalty. You need time to watch competitors come and go.

You need time.

And that's why telling yourself and others that you're going to do something is such a scary and unrealistic tactic.

You can't run through a finish line drawn on paper any more than you can write a song by staring at a guitar on the wall.

Because it takes time bend at the knees ... to tie your shoes ... to walk to towards the door ... to close it behind you ... to run as fast as you can ... to start to sweat ... to realize where in the race you are ... to pace yourself ... to pass on the left and on the right ... to maintain the lead ... to approach the spectators en mass as they clap individually and in an unpredictable rhythm, forcing the air out from between their outstretched fleshy palms as untold pairs of eyes pivot in imperfect unison following your form, yelling, "Go!" ... "Go!" ... "Go!" ... "Go!" ...